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Effective Treatments for Pain in the Older Patient

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Abstract

By 2050, the number of older persons across the globe will exceed the number of younger people for the first time in history. Chronic conditions, especially pain, will rise in prevalence as the population ages. Controlling pain in this unique subset of the population demands careful attention to pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors and their specific impact on pharmacotherapies, relevant complementary and alternative medicine therapies, and interventional strategies.

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Disclosures

P. J. Christo: none; S. Li: none. Dr. Stephen Gibson has received grants or has grants pending from the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia). Dr. Perry Fine has served as a consultant for, and has received travel expense compensation from, Ameritox, Cephalon, Purdue Pharma, Meda Pharmaceuticals, King Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly and Co., and Forest Pharmaceuticals; has provided expert testimony for Johnson and Johnson and Cephalon; has received grants from the National Cancer Institute (USA); has received payment for the development of educational presentations from the National Initiative on Pain Control and the American Pain Foundation; and serves as President-Elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and on the board of directors of the American Pain Foundation. H. Hameed: none.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Division of Pain Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 550 North Broadway, Suite 301, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Paul J. Christo & Sean Li

  2. National Ageing Research Institute, Royal Melbourne Hospital, PO Box 2127, Parkeville, VIC, 3050, Australia

    Stephen J. Gibson

  3. Pain Research Center, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Perry Fine

  4. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Phipps 160, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA

    Haroon Hameed

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  1. Paul J. Christo
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Correspondence to Paul J. Christo.

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Christo, P.J., Li, S., Gibson, S.J. et al. Effective Treatments for Pain in the Older Patient. Curr Pain Headache Rep 15, 22–34 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-010-0164-0

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